Bed-brace.



" No. 739,839. P'ATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903;

B. L. GRUZAN, BED BRAGE.

APPLIGATIOH FILED APB.. 20, 1903.

I0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 29, 1963.

PATENT OFFICE.

F ONE-HALF TO HENRY YKING?,

TORY.

or sTILtwATER, oKLAHoMA TERRI- BED-BRACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. l739,839, dated September 29, 1903.

Application led April 20, 1903.

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.- l

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. CRUZAN, a

` citizen of the United states, residing ai; snuwater, in the county of Payne and Territory of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful Bed-Brace, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bed-braces, and has for its object toprovide a simple and edective device for correcting the outward bulging of the side rails of beds that is frequently observed in furniture of the cheaper grades, though it sometimes occurs in more expensive furniture.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the bed-brace that it may be attached to any bed without in any way marring or disfiguring the hed and without requiring any great mechanical skill or any special tools.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the invention is better understood, the same consists in the construction and novel combination of elements hereinafter described, illustrated in the ac'- companying drawings, forminga part of thisA specification, in which corresponding .parts are designated by the same characters of reference throughout the various views, and having the novelfeatures thereof pointed out v in the appendedclaims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, proportions, and exact mode of assemblage yof the elements l exhibited without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in transverse section through a bed having` my innproved brace applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the side rails of a bed, a bed-slet, and the bed-brace operatively associated with the slat and the side rails. Fig. 3 is a detail view of a portion of the brace.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 1 designate the side rails of the bed.

2 is a slat supported in the usual manner upon strips 3 3, having recesses et provided therein and attached to the side rails. Screweyes 5 or other equivalent structures are atcached tothe side rails adjacent to the re- Serial No. 153,548. (No model.)

cesses 4, in which the slat 2 rests, and a hook 6 is secured to the slat near one end thereof 'by means of a screw-eye 7 and engages with one of said eyes 5 to hold the slat at theproper position in relation to the said rails. At the other end of the slat is provided a hook 8 for engagement with the eye on the side rail adjacent to that end, said hook being connected with the side rail by means of a pivoted lever 9, provided with a plurality of openings 10, with any one of which the hook is adapted to engage. The lever 9 is secured to the slat 2 at a point adjacent to the end thereof by means of a screw 11 and a strip or plate of metal 12` having one end held in Contact with the slat by means of a screw 13 and the other end bent outward away from the slat in 0rder to afford space between said strip "and said slat for the insertion of the lever 9. The

screw 11, by'means of which the lever 9 is attached to the slat, passes through an opening let in the strip and au opening l5 in the end of the lever, as shown. Thelever 9 normally has the free end thereof disposed toward the middle of the slat and holds the hook S in such position that the siderail 1,

with which the hook is connected by means of one of the screw-eyes 5, lies in contact with the end of the slat, as it should be, thereby correcting any outward bulging of the sideA rails at either side of the bed that may have 4taken place.

The lever 9 is at the pivoted end thereof in contact with the slat 2; but the remainder of the lever is bent outward away from the slat,

so as to permit the insertion throughA the openings 10 of one of the ends of hook S, as best seen in Fig. 2. The lever 9 has the free end thereof formed into a lug 16, disposed at right anglesto the remainder of the lever and adapted to contact with`the' lower surface of the slat 2 when the lever is in its normal poplane of the pivot-screw 11. This form is given apply the brace to a bed, the eyes 5 are at-y tached tothe side rails of the bed in the manner indicated, a portion of the strip 3 being cut away, if necessary, on either side rail to permit the insertion of the eyes at the proper position; but this may be obviated by providing screw-eyes with threaded Shanks of sufficient length to pass through the strip 3 and engage the material of the side rails. The hooks and 8 are attached to the slat in the manner already explained, the hook 6 being secured at a point such that when the hook is in engagement with an eye on the adjacent side rail the end of the slat near which said hook is attached will lie in the recess 4, provided in the adjacent strip 3 in the usual way. The lever 9, which forms the intermediate connection between the hook 8 and ther slat, is mounted at a convenient distance from the end of the slat, the distance being determined in a measure by the amount of bulging of the side rails that has alreadyoccurred. If the side rails have'bulged outward to a considerable extent, it is desirable that ihelever 9 be pivoted on the slat at a point such that the inner end of the hook 8 will engage with one of the openings l0 more remote from the pivotal point of the lever when the brace is in operative position and the side rails of the bed drawn bac-.k to their original alinement. When the bulging that has already taken place in the side rails is comparatively slight, the lever 9 will be attached to the slat at a point somewhat farther from the end thereof, so that the hook will engage with one of the openings nearer to the pivotal point of the lever, thus lessening the amount by which the hook will be drawn inward when the lever 9 is drawn into operative position to restore the side rails of the bed to their normal position. With the parts of the brace attached to the slat and to the side rails of the bed,as above explained, the operation of drawing the side rails inward is accomplished by merely swinging the lever 9 downward, so that the hook 8 carried thereby may be inserted into the eye on the adjacent side rail, and the lever is then swung upward until the free end thereof contacts with the under surface of the bedslat, as shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings it will be noted that the elements entering into the construction of my improved bed-brace are few in number, are of simple construction, and may be applied to any bed of ordinary construction in a very short time and with very little eX- penditnre of labor. the device is one that can be manufactured at small cost and applied to a bed without any modification of the bed structure, thus adapting the device for use on cheap beds upon which the'owners would naturally not care to spend any considerable amount in correcting the bulging of the side rails.

Having thusdescribed the construction and operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. The combination with the side rails and a slat of a bed of means for holding said slat in proper association with said side rails, said means comprising eyes on said side rails, a hook near one end of said slat engaging one of said eyes, a lever pivotally attached to said slat near its other end, said lever being bent outward throughout a portion of its length from said slat, a hook adj ustably attached to said lever and adapted to engage with the eye on the adjacent side rail'.

2. The combination with the side rails and a Slat of a bed of eyes on said side rails, a hook directly attached to said slat near one end and adapted to engage one of said eyes, a lever pivotally attached to said slat near the other end and having a stop-lug provided at the free end thereof and adapted to contact with the under surface of said slat, the body portion of said lever being curved upward and provided with openings which lie when the lever is in operative position in a higher plane than the pivotaly point of said lever, and a hook mounted in one of said openings and adapted to engage with the eye on the adjacent side rail.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have vhereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD L. CRUZAN.

Witnesses:

WM. RIscH, S. M. CLIFTON.

It will' also be seen that IOO 

